Version 1.0 | Last updated 30 April 2015
The Military Collapse of the Central Powers
By Graydon A. Tunstall
October 1918 witnessed the collapse of the German and Austro-Hungarian armies, both
greatly affected by war-weariness and starvation. The Austro-Hungarian monarchy lost any
remaining loyalty from its multi-national populace when President Woodrow Wilson issued
Point Ten of his Fourteen Points, concerning the subject peoples of the Empire. Emperor
Charles’ Manifesto of 16 October represented the final push for independence of the soon-tobe new states created by the collapse of the Dual Monarchy. Battlefield defeat of the German
army in 1918 also led to major changes to its government. Thus the two Central European
Great Powers suffered defeat.
Table of Contents
1 Introduction
2 The German Spring Offensives
3 The German Home Front
4 Allied Fall Campaign
5 New German Government
6 The Austro-Hungarian Front
7 Early October 1918
8 Question of an Armistice
9 Internal Problems: Nationalities
10 President Wilson Changes Position
11 The Collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Army
12 Final Italian Offensive
13 Question of an Armistice
14 Revolt of the Nationalities
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15 Collapse on the Italian Front
16 The End of Germany and the Dual Monarchy
17 Conclusion
Notes
Selected Bibliography
Citation
Introduction
The Western Front drew the entire world’s attention in early 1918. After pulling multiple divisions from
the Eastern Front and training their soldiers in storm trooper tactics between late 1917 and early
1918, the Germans launched their infamous spring offensives. The Russian Revolutions altered the
situation on the Eastern Front and gave the Germans the opportunity to take one last fateful gamble
to win the war before the mass of American troops arrived to sway the outcome.
The United States’ entry into the war more than counterbalanced the exit of tsarist Russia from the
conflict. President Woodrow Wilson’s (1856-1924) Fourteen Points fed into subversive and
revolutionary nationalistic movements that proved fatal to the Habsburg troops on the front lines as
well as on the home front. It did not help that Point Ten of Wilson’s Fourteen Points, which
emphasized self-determination, was aimed specifically at Austria-Hungary. In time, the failure to
federalize the Dual Monarchy or find another solution to the nationality issue resulted in the Empire’s
dismemberment.
As the war progressed, the British (Entente) blockade strangled the Central Powers, creating misery
and economic turmoil. The blockade produced many deaths and mass starvation, increasing the
peoples’ war-weariness and popular unrest. Living conditions obviously suffered as material
exhaustion accelerated. Quality food became more difficult to obtain, leading to widespread
malnutrition and, ultimately, mass starvation. The announcement of further rationing in early January
1918 resulted in the outbreak of strikes that swept through the Dual Monarchy as war-weariness and
despair increased. These internal Habsburg conditions weakened its negotiating position at the
Brest-Litovsk meeting. The government’s failure to provide domestic leadership resulted in political
confusion and provoked negative, nationalist responses to Vienna’s governance. Meanwhile, the
patriotic feeling that had prevailed in Germany collapsed owing to increased civilian starvation and
economic hardship.
A series of treaties in early 1918 allowed German and Habsburg forces to consolidate their gains in
Eastern Europe. Germany signed the “Bread Peace” with Ukraine on 2 February and occupied Kiev
on 1 March. The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, negotiated with Russia’s new Bolshevik government,
followed on 3 March and established German hegemony in Central and Eastern Europe. The
occupation of Ukraine, however, did not provide the food quantities needed to quell the hunger riots
breaking out in both Germany and Austria-Hungary. Workers and soldiers had been reduced to
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walking skeletons; more than a quarter million Germans ultimately died of malnutrition during 1918.
By October, rail transport of food supplies had collapsed in Austria-Hungary.
With Russia finally eliminated from the war in 1917, the Habsburg Supreme Command was free to
transfer fifty-three divisions and assorted reserve units to the Italian front. Unfortunately, the
redeployed forces lacked much of their artillery complement, as only one-third of the necessary
horses survived to transport the guns. Locomotives increasingly broke down due to poor
maintenance and a shortage of necessary parts and coal, making it difficult to transport troops to the
new front.[1]
During early 1918, the activities of several national groups within Austria-Hungary became
troublesome enough to warrant military intervention. Strikes, demonstrations, and looting, for
example, occurred throughout Bohemia and Moravia. Seven front-line Habsburg infantry divisions
(41,000 soldiers) were deployed to the homeland to preserve internal security and to track down
army deserters. During the first half of 1918, the increased military presence proved sufficient to
suppress the early nationalistic demonstrations and uprisings that occurred in Bohemia. Later it
would not.
The German General Staff realized that their armies had to rapidly launch a major “last card”
offensive operation before American troops swamped the Western Front. Despite assembling vast
numbers of troops and outnumbering Entente infantry divisions, the Germans possessed far fewer
airplanes, artillery pieces, tanks, and trucks than their opponents.
Indications of morale problems in the Germany army became difficult to ignore. “Shirking” became a
major concern as training and preparations commenced for the anticipated German offensives in
1918. Some estimates placed the number of German “shirkers” at up to 1 million soldiers on the
Western Front.[2] It was hoped that the offensives would achieve battlefield success before American
troops appeared in overwhelming numbers.
As military defeat loomed for Germany, revolutionary groups increased their activity within the
German army and naval fleet. German workers became more politically active and more likely to
take part in radical movements. The accelerating problem of food shortages, owing to low production
and poor distribution, affected the starving population. Securing an adequate food supply was a
critical factor on the home front throughout the entire war.
The German Spring Offensives
The long-anticipated first German spring offensive, Operation Michael (Kaiserschlacht), commenced
on 21 March 1918. Seventy-four German divisions supported by 6,500 artillery pieces and 730
aircraft attacked thirty-four British infantry and three cavalry division forces on a fifty-mile front on the
1916 Somme battleground. Although the terrain had been badly damaged from the Somme battles
and the 1917 Nivelle Offensive, the Germans managed to drive the British back forty miles. On 25
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March, the attacking forces refocused their attention from the flanks to the center and right flank of
the German lines, with a new objective of Arras. However, the rapidly advancing Germans quickly
outran their supply lines and lacked the necessary reserve formations because of the heavy
casualties they sustained. Artillery was also unable to keep pace with the advancing troops due to
the terrible terrain. The battle ended on 5 April with the attacking German troops exhausted. They
had lost 239,000 of their best storm troopers in the operation. Although the Germans recaptured
almost all of the territory they had lost in 1916, they could not exploit their breakthrough, as they
lacked the necessary reserve units. The battle thus produced a great tactical success, but provided
little strategic advantage.
During the second German offensive, Operation Georgette, the German army struggled north toward
Flanders just south of the battlefield at Ypres. The German army attempted to destroy the
entrenched British army as the battle raged between 19 and 21 April. The British retreated fifteen to
twenty miles, but their lines ultimately held. Once again exhausted, stretched thin, and unable to
transport their artillery forward rapidly enough, the Germans broke off the offensive and regrouped.
A third offensive effort lasted from 27 May to 3 June, by which time American troops had joined the
front lines in large numbers. The Germans sought to obtain a final, decisive victory by attacking the
junction between the British and French lines in an attempt to drive the British back to the Channel
ports. The Germans also launched a diversionary attack against the French to bind their troops at
the Chemin des Dames. A 160-minute massive artillery barrage battered the French lines. By the
end of May, German troops had reached the Marne River Valley, the natural route to Paris, just fifty
miles away. However, once again they outran their supply lines and extended their front lines with
the enlarged salient their operations had produced.
During the third offensive, the newly conquered salient made it not only difficult to supply German
troops, but also to defend the newly extended front lines. The Germans had again achieved
tremendous advances, but, as in earlier operations, proved unable to exploit their gains. Their
casualties had reached 600,000 irreplaceable trained assault troops.
German forces next sought to link their salient north along the Somme River with their salient south
of the Marne River. A successful action would have shortened the German lines, but the French
commander anticipated the attack. On 9 June, the first battle day, a spectacular six-mile advance
occurred, but the French launched a counterattack on 11 June to cut the offensive short. The
German front had become destabilized. A month would go by before the Germans could mount
another offensive operation. The lull proved invaluable to the Allies as more American troops
deployed along the front lines.
The fifth German spring offensive objective was Champagne-Marne. Often designated the Second
Battle of the Marne, the operation lasted from 15 July to 18 August. It was during this engagement,
however, that strategic initiative shifted from the Germans to the British and French. By the end of
July, the overall military advantage had swung against the Central Powers. At a meeting at Spa on
13-14 August, Generals Paul von Hindenburg (1847-1934) and Erich Ludendorff (1865-1937)
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informed Wilhelm II, German Emperor (1859-1941) and Chancellor George Count von Hertling
(1843-1919) that Germany could not win the war. On 18 July, Entente forces launched a
counterattack that forced German troops back to the Marne River and compelled General Ludendorff
to cancel his planned Flanders offensive drive on 20 July. The Entente had seized the initiative from
the Germans for good. A week later, the Entente leadership planned a series of attacks that allowed
the Germans no respite. The offensive from 8 August to 4 September targeted Amiens and
ultimately reduced the German salient south of the Somme River. The battle is notable for the
effective coordination of British-French infantry, artillery, and airplanes. During the first operational
day, Allied troops advanced six miles on a twelve-mile front. This was General Ludendorff’s
infamous “Black Day” for the German army, as many of his troops surrendered after offering little
more than token resistance to the attackers. Entente pressure prevented the Germans from
launching a counteroffensive. The army had begun to disintegrate as up to 1,500,000 soldiers were
reported missing or had deserted.
As the military situation worsened, despair spread throughout the Central Powers’ ranks. At a 13
August meeting at Spa, General Arthur Arz von Straußenburg (1857-1935) informed the German
High Command that his army could not continue to fight past December. Then the news arrived that
the British government had officially recognized the Czech-Slovak National Council in Paris.
Meanwhile, by 9 September on the Western Front, the British and French had recaptured all the
territory the Germans had conquered during their 1918 spring offensives and showed few signs of
slowing down. By late summer 1918, German armed forces neared complete exhaustion on the
Western Front, as the Entente blockade increased the civilian starvation levels and war-weariness
accelerated in both Germany and Austria-Hungary. Already on 2 September, the first German
Hindenburg Line defensive positions had been breached.[3] The German High Command had wanted
the maintenance of those formidable defensive positions to be a bargaining tool in future peace
negotiations.
The German Home Front
On the German home front, draconian rationing of the dwindling food supplies and grave shortages
of raw materials led to strikes, demonstrations, and civil unrest. During early 1918, massive strikes,
far larger than previous stoppages, broke out all over Germany. Hundreds of thousands of people
protested the steadily worsening food situation. In the process, the USPD Party (Independent Social
Democratic Party of Germany) split from the Socialist Party and demanded immediate peace
without annexations. The Socialist Party trade unions did not encourage the strike movement,
striving instead to maintain the early war unity (Burgfrieden).[4]
Despite their efforts, the social and political order began to disintegrate after a major ammunitionworkers strike erupted in January and the tightening Entente blockade further restricted the food
supply. The Hohenzollern ruler, Emperor Wilhelm II, became a major symbol of discontent among
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evolving revolutionary groups. Wilhelm’s demonstrated weakness as a wartime ruler resulted in
accelerating disrespect for his authority and the very institution of the emperorship. Meanwhile, the
Hindenburg “myth” endured through the 1918 German offensive, as the people still trusted him.[5] A
further cut in rations produced additional strikes in Berlin and Leipzig, which spread throughout
Germany during the summer months. The increasing lack of food weakened efforts to maintain
industrial production.
Thus, during 1918, revolutions erupted in both Austria-Hungary and Germany following military
defeat after four years of warfare. This final defeat produced the conditions and the impetus for
revolutionary activity and demonstrations. These upheavals, however, proved less destructive and
far less radical than the 1917 Russian Revolutions.
The same war-weariness that had long gripped Austria-Hungary and Bulgaria finally took its toll on
the German population. Basic commodities, and especially fuel, became scarcer by the day and the
inflation rate had already increased four times since 1914. Many German civilians scoured both
street and countryside in search of food, often resorting to raiding garbage cans for rotting meats and
vegetables. The social, political, and economic structure of the Central Powers began to disintegrate
as strikes and unrest spread with the increasing war-weariness.
German agricultural output plummeted due to enduring manpower shortages, lack of fertilizer, and
poor weather conditions. The social strain of attempting to mobilize resources for total war (the
infamous “Hindenburg Program”) increased due to the 1918 spring offensive failures. In addition to
sacrificing many of the best storm troopers, the offensives exhausted the German army and
destroyed national morale.[6] Troop cohesion and unit resilience deteriorated following the
devastating Entente counteroffensive. The obvious expanding Entente superiority in both manpower
and material and its overwhelming supremacy both on land and in the air further depressed the
remaining troops, many of whom surrendered to the enemy as Germany was forced to revert to the
defensive. The army now suffered a serious loss of manpower, lacked ammunition and artillery
shells, and no longer possessed reserve formations. A quarter million casualties had been sustained
after the second retreat from the Marne River, and tens of thousands of troops deserted when
Entente forces attacked the Hindenburg Line.
Allied Fall Campaign
The decisive 26 September Meuse-Argonne Offensive against the German Hindenburg Line
continued during the successful Hundred Days Offensive until the end of the war. German troops
were now truly exhausted. Entente offensives continued unabated after 28 September, as the
German government learned that Generals Hindenburg and Ludendorff were demanding peace
negotiations. Meanwhile, the entire Bulgarian front crumbled after an Allied Salonika Army offensive
launched from Greece severed communication between Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Turkey.
On 15 September, the international Entente force defeated the starving, demoralized Bulgarian Army
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at the Battle of Dobro Pole. After the Bulgarians signed an unconditional surrender with the Salonika
group commanders on 30 September, the Central Power Balkan front defense dissolved, leaving the
Balkan Peninsula open to an Entente offensive. Troops could not be transported from other fronts
and deployed rapidly enough to halt the Entente advances (the reinforcements would have come
from the Serbian and Ukrainian fronts). Turkey also signed an armistice agreement shortly thereafter
on 30 October. This represented the beginning of the end militarily for Austria-Hungary and
Germany. The Bulgarian collapse created significant danger for both the Habsburg Balkan front and
for Turkey. The Turks had fought for three years before the outbreak of the First World War. First,
they fought in Italy in the Italo-Turkish War and then against various Balkan states, which initiated the
two Balkan wars in 1912-1913. Following those conflicts, the German General Staff considered the
Turkish army powerless.
However, with the July 1914 crisis and outbreak of war, the Young Turks leadership determined that
they should ally with Germany, the strongest military power in Europe. Negotiations occurred on 2
August, but it was not until November that the Turks actively entered the war. From December 1914
to January 1915 the Turks initiated a campaign in the Caucasus Mountains that resulted in disaster
for them. In addition, they failed in their attempt to cross the Sinai Desert to seize the Suez Canal.
The following year the Turks made a second attempt to seize the Suez Canal, but once again were
repulsed. To continue fighting, the Turks desperately needed military equipment and ammunition. In
the fall of 1915, following the Central Powers’ successful Gorlice-Tarnów Offensive and the invasion
and defeat of Serbia, supply routes opened allowing for the transportation of equipment to the Turks.
Throughout 1916, warfare in the Middle East intensified. The Turks, however, continued their
Caucasus campaign and even provided four infantry divisions for the Eastern Front during the
Brusilov Offensive. The Palestinian campaign in 1917 was catastrophic and they were forced to
surrender the Middle East to the British and French. The Turks ended their participation in the war in
October 1918, immediately after the Bulgarian collapse, by signing an armistice.
New German Government
After the failure of the spring offensives, the disastrous defeat in the Balkan theater, and the collapse
of the German Western Front, General Ludendorff suddenly proclaimed on 3 October that the war
was lost and that the German government must immediately seek an acceptable armistice and
peace from the Allies. This stunning admission negatively affected the morale of those who had been
strong supporters of the war. By accepting defeat, the German government also realized that it had
to initiate meaningful constitutional changes, which resulted in the formation of a new government on
3 October headed by Prince Max von Baden (1867-1929) and supported by a parliamentary majority
consisting of the Center, Progressive, and Social Democratic parties. By proclamation, the new
government became responsible to the Reichstag for military and foreign policy. This provided the
impetus to establish a constitutional monarchy with a responsible government, which, unfortunately,
ended in failure.
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On 3 October, Prince Max von Baden became Chancellor of the new liberal German government.
On 4 October he dispatched a formal note requesting an armistice based on President Wilson’s
Fourteen Points. This move came under increasing domestic pressure, as well as the realization
that, in a speech made to Congress, President Wilson had made a distinction between the German
people and the Hohenzollern dynasty. Wilson would not negotiate with the autocratic leader. This
paved the way for negotiations based on initiating change in German political leadership. General
Ludendorff, who would tender his resignation to the civilian government by the end of the month,
utilized these requests for an armistice as a means to discredit left-wing political forces and deflect
blame for Germany’s military defeat from its General Staff. This would later serve as “evidence” for
the infamous German “stab-in-the-back” thesis (Dolchstoβlegende), which Adolf Hitler (1889-1945)
recited tirelessly during his rise to power in the 1930s, claiming that the army had been defeated not
on the battlefield, but by the Socialists, Jews, and liberal politicians at home.
The German High Command’s demand for an immediate armistice on 3 October came as a
complete shock to most of the country. The astonished Berlin political leaders and Reichstag had
been informed of the deteriorating military situation only the day before. Four years of battlefield
victories and continued newspaper coverage of the vast enemy territory that had been conquered
had suddenly somehow resulted in military defeat – literally overnight. Astounded, people asked how
this could have happened, considering that their armies occupied much of Russia’s territory and
possessed a number of satellite states including the Baltic States, Ukraine, Poland, Romania, and
Belgium. Panic gripped the German people as they realized that the war was lost.[7]
The resultant note from the Central Powers to President Wilson on 4 October requesting an
armistice based on his Fourteen Points led to a round of negotiations and prompted a public
exchange of notes from 4 to 23 October between President Wilson, Austria-Hungary, and Germany.
President Wilson transmitted messages to the Central Powers on 8, 14, and 23 October. He
transmitted his first note on 8 October without first consulting his Entente allies. Wilson wanted
confirmation that his Fourteen Points formed the basis for further discussions. Meanwhile, the
Germans responded to Wilson’s notes on 12, 20, and 27 October. The negotiations coincided with
the transfer of military power from the German General Staff to the civilian leaders of the newly
announced government.
By the end of October the German people wanted the war to end. In the negotiations for peace, Max
von Baden ignored Emperor Wilhelm. By 28 October the German constitution had been revised in
the first significant changes to the early Bismarck Constitution since 1871. The Emperor no longer
held any of his former major powers. The German Chancellor now was responsible to the Reichstag,
and foreign and military affairs reverted to civilian control. Wilhelm departed his homeland on 29
October, ending over 500 years of Hohenzollern rule.
The Austro-Hungarian Front
The Habsburg Army launched an offensive on the Italian front on 15 June. The operation was
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delayed by inclement weather and the rugged mountain terrain. The overtaxed railroads could not
meet the demand of transporting troops, food, and equipment. On the eve of the 15 June offensive,
the army’s food supplies could only last a few days. Habsburg Army troop numbers had meanwhile
dropped precipitously, while three separate command groups were separated by hundreds of
kilometers, posing an insurmountable challenge for the operation. Charles I, Emperor of Austria
(1887-1922) divided Habsburg forces between the Isonzo and Tyrolean fronts. In the meantime, the
Italian army had been replenished with eleven British and French divisions, as well as resupplied with
artillery and other weapons from the October 1917 Caporetto battlefield debacle.[8]
Initial Habsburg gains, coming on the heels of some early successes on the Piave front, were
quickly negated by Italian counterattacks. The Italians had learned the attack plans from Habsburg
deserters, and air reconnaissance located pertinent troop assembly areas. Constant rainfall caused
the Piave River to spill over its banks, washing away the attackers’ pontoon bridges and cutting off
Habsburg escape routes. The failed campaign led to the loss of 143,000 troops. Thus, the civilian
population that believed the offensive would result in another 1917 Caporetto-style victory was
stunned by the overwhelming defeat.
Following the disastrous Habsburg offensive, the Italian front fell quiet as attention shifted to the
Western Front, where the war would presumably be decided. During the first week of July, the
Italians launched a counterattack, turning the tide on that front. Disease began to take an increasing
toll on Habsburg soldiers on the Piave River front area. The Austro-Hungarian soldiers’ morale sank
as disease, particularly malaria, spread through the ranks, claiming two to three times as many men
as were lost to the enemy. The soldiers literally became skeletons from lack of proper nourishment.
Between 1 July and the end of September, Habsburg troop numbers dipped from 650,000 to
400,000, mostly from desertions, although malaria, dysentery, malnutrition, and the Spanish flu also
took their toll. The July and August 1918 famine negatively affected civilian and military consumption
and morale. By August, Habsburg troops on the Italian front were digging up graves to remove
military uniforms from their buried comrades, as most remaining soldiers lacked basic clothing. The
Habsburg Sixth Army reported that the average infantryman’s weight had decreased to 120 pounds.
Through mid-August, on the Isonzo River troops suffered 600 to 800 cases of malaria daily. Many
troops, now basically skeletons, suffered from various ailments, becoming pathetic shadows of their
former selves.[9] The toll became obvious in September as troop numbers dwindled.[10] Negative
news about conditions back home also began to prey on soldiers’ psyches. The intensifying warweariness, food crisis, and fuel shortage on the home front brought economic and nationalistic
issues together explosively.
On the German front, retreat movements shortened the front lines, while fear of revolution and
Bolshevik activity grew in the hinterlands of the Central Powers. The Allies agreed that a peace
settlement was necessary. Habsburg Supreme Command attempted to protect the army from the
nationalistic revolutionary activities and propaganda. Meanwhile, misery and despair continued on
the home front as deserters filled the ranks of “green cadres” that terrorized the countryside behind
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the front lines.[11]
Early October 1918
The Habsburg Army’s collapse accelerated during the first half of October 1918. Mutinies and severe
discipline problems resulted from the prolonged political, social, and military events. War-weariness
abounded. Entente propaganda proved particularly effective among the various Dual Monarchy
nationalities. The citizenry had long since lost respect for its government because of its notoriously
lackluster performance and divided Austrian and Hungarian political structures. The return of some
665,000 prisoners-of-war from Russia added Bolshevik propaganda to their anger and defiance.
Attempts to send returning soldiers to debriefing camps, Ersatz units, or back to the front resulted in
mutinies and widespread desertion. The prolonged conflict and the government’s abject failure to
address economic problems further fanned the flames of discontent and revolt. Strikes and unrest
plagued both Germany and Austria-Hungary.
Question of an Armistice
The disastrous collapse of the Bulgarian front in September caused Austria-Hungary to join
Germany’s appeal to President Wilson for an armistice, a desperate attempt at self-preservation by
both the emperor and the central government. German Emperor Wilhelm appealed to President
Wilson on 16 September for an armistice based on the Fourteen Points, but Wilson had replied that
the ruling elites, including the emperor himself, must be replaced before any negotiations could
occur. Ultimately, the Central Power troops evacuated conquered Russian territory and restored
Serbia, Montenegro, and Romania as a result of their 1918 military defeat and attempts to achieve a
viable peace. Viennese leadership also announced that it would accept the demanded Italian frontiers
as long as they were based on ethnic boundaries. They even offered to establish a free Poland
created from Austro-Prussian territory.[12]
By 20 September, Bulgarian troops had retreated on all fronts. The government requested an
armistice on 26 September, which became official on 30 September. This placed Central Power
troops in a very precarious military situation on the entire Balkan front. A new defensive line was
established on the Danube-Save River line, with Hungary now facing the threat of invasion. The
Serbian front collapsed on 20 September, leading Hungarian, Polish, and Czech units to mutiny on
the Galician front.
As Habsburg Supreme Command Headquarters prepared for the anticipated Italian offensive, it
received word of the armistice negotiations with President Wilson. The armistice question produced
increasing paralysis in the ranks as weary soldiers asked why they should put their lives in jeopardy
when the end of the war appeared imminent. Meanwhile, the Supreme Command of the Habsburg
Army concentrated its efforts on keeping the army intact regardless of battlefield events.
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With Hungary also suffering severe domestic turmoil, Budapest announced it had terminated its
alliance with Germany and proclaimed Hungary a separate state, ending the Austro-Hungarian
Compromise of 1867. This opened a “Pandora’s box” of long-simmering nationalist fervor and
revolutionary activity. The Austro-Hungarian central government became paralyzed as the crisis
escalated.
On 8 October, President Wilson responded to Prince Max von Baden’s armistice overtures. On the
following day, the South Slavs (Slovenes, Serbs and Croatians) and Czechs met at Agram (Zagreb)
and Prague, whereupon they determined to establish quasi-national governments. In the meantime,
the ethnic cohesion of the Habsburg Army began to collapse, ultimately leading to the implosion of
the Empire itself.[13] General Arz meanwhile ordered the creation of an armistice commission in
Trent.[14]
Then, on 7 October, the Galician Poles declared their independence from the Habsburg Empire. The
following day, a proposal to request an armistice was read before the Austrian parliament
(Reichsrat). An official U.S. announcement, however, proclaimed that no answer to the Habsburg
peace proposals would be forthcoming at the present time, causing dismay in official Habsburg ruling
circles. Germany received a reply in which President Wilson demanded the evacuation of all Entente
territory preceding the conclusion of an armistice, while again insisting upon the removal of all
traditional Central Power ruling elites, specifically Emperor Wilhelm.
President Wilson’s 8 October diplomatic note contained a list of conditions stipulating that AustriaHungary must evacuate all Allied territory. Only then would he transmit a separate diplomatic
communiqué to Vienna. Whatever the armistice terms might evolve, the Entente Powers intended to
make it impossible for Germany to renew armed hostilities. Meanwhile, the situation on the German
front became highly unstable and unfavorable, thus leading Germany to ultimately accept Wilson’s
Fourteen Points.
On 14 October, Italian, British, and French troops prepared to launch their long-awaited offensive
against the Austro-Hungarian army to end the war. The Entente’s military success on the Western
Front and the collapse of the Bulgarian front drove the war towards its conclusion. The Italians
launched their offensive primarily to ensure territorial gains at the peace conference. The attack was
launched on a twenty-two kilometer front supported by 7,700 artillery pieces and fifty-seven infantry
divisions. On the same day, the Habsburgs decided to seek an armistice and retreat to their original
frontiers.
Internal Problems: Nationalities
In the fall of 1918 a general strike erupted throughout Bohemia as the fledgling Czech government
began to assemble. In addition, President Wilson’s sharp, second note of 14 October opened the
door for decisive negotiations. Any illusions the German government might have harbored about
armistice conditions ended with Wilson’s reply. The U.S. President demanded that the German
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government be replaced by a constitutional body and that German unrestricted submarine warfare
be terminated immediately. Simultaneously, Prince Max von Baden received disturbing reports that
revealed the extent of the unrest and troop demoralization escalating on the German front. The home
front remained in turmoil.[15]
Then, on 15 October, the Habsburg Supreme Command ordered the evacuation of all troops
stationed in Russia and Ukraine. This terminated shipments of vital grain supplies to the starving
Habsburg population. During the next two weeks, the army began to rapidly disintegrate. The
military’s deterioration coincided with the spread of increasingly strident nationalist movements
demanding independence, accelerating political collapse.
Emperor Charles’ disastrous “Manifesto,” announced on 16 October, promised to accept
autonomous Romanian and Ruthenian National Councils and proclaimed that the Austrian half of the
monarchy would become a federal state and introduce reforms. However, instead of accepting the
Manifesto, Czech, Slovenian, Polish, and South Slav leaders scrambled to create their own
nationalist governments, accelerating internal dissolution. The nationalities believed that the
Manifesto signified immediate independence as battlefield defeat loomed. The Czechoslovakian
National Council proclaimed a Czech-Slovak provisional government. The Czechoslovakian and
South Slav National Councils refused to negotiate with either central government before a peace
conference convened. War-weariness had reached a boiling point and conflict intensified as they
realized that the war had been lost.
The newly created national governments demanded that all foreign troops be withdrawn from their
territories and their national regiments be returned to their new homeland. Czech civil service
employees immediately cooperated with their National Council, ignoring Viennese officials. The
continued service of Habsburg bureaucratic figures and administrators enabled the successor states
to establish solid foundations for their new governments.
Rail transport of Habsburg troops was also halted in those territories. In particular, a Czech blockade
of food supplies proved a formidable political weapon against the half-starved population of Vienna.
The Hungarians’ unrealistic hope of maintaining their present territorial boundaries collapsed when
Romanians and Slovaks announced their intentions to secede from Hungary. Some Romanian
leaders ordered the integration of the Bukovina into Romania. Romanian soldiers eventually marched
into the province, occupying parts of it on 11 November. Meanwhile, General Arz, Chief of the
Austro-Hungarian General Staff, suppressed the announcement of the Emperor’s Manifesto for
several days, fearing its negative effects on the front line troops and the confusion it would create in
the officer corps.
Emperor Charles’ actions and continued South Slav problems created an increasingly chaotic
situation on the domestic front. Initially, only rumors of the revolutionary events on the home front
reached the front line troops, but they negatively affected troop morale nevertheless. Then, the
former kaisertreu Hungarian Premier István Tisza (1861-1918) gave his infamous “the war is lost”
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speech in Budapest after Emperor Charles’ manifesto had been announced. This had a major effect
on Honvéd troops,[16] causing immediate agitation in their ranks.
In response to President Wilson’s note to the German government, General Arz ordered the
evacuation of Habsburg troops from the Venetian Plain by 17 October. Simultaneously, armistice
committees were created for the Habsburg Italian front.[17] In Germany, the war cabinet decided to
accept President Wilson’s armistice terms. On 20-21 October, the German government formally
appealed to President Wilson for an armistice and agreed to evacuate all occupied territories and to
revise its constitution according to more democratic principles.
President Wilson’s rejection of the Habsburg armistice request and Emperor Charles’ promise of
“autonomy” for his Czech-Slovak and Southern Slav peoples provided the death sentence for the
Dual Monarchy. Several key national groups demanded their complete independence as central
Habsburg administrative orders and decrees went ignored. The Habsburg Supreme Command
attempted to meet with representatives of the various nationalities as they began to plan their future
status outside of the Dual Monarchy, but these groups had no desire to assist Habsburg military
authorities in continuing the war. President Wilson’s emphasis on self-determination for the various
national groups comprising the Dual Monarchy made any mediation with the Habsburg authorities
irrelevant. Although senior army commanders made plans to intervene in the Dual Monarchy’s
internal crisis when the war ended, Emperor Charles wisely resisted pressure to deploy Habsburg
troops against the newly emerging states.
The turning point in the war came on 20 October as growing discontent produced unrest throughout
the Dual Monarchy. The Hungarian Parliament voted on constitutional changes and severed formal
ties with Austria, the only remaining connection being Emperor Charles. Thus Hungary had declared
its independence. The same day, Habsburg Supreme Command dispatched General Staff officers to
Prague, Kraków, Laibach, and Agram to enlist the national assemblies against the outbreak of
anarchy among the troops, which it feared might spread to other parts of the Empire, particularly
German Austria.[18] Supreme Command claimed that armed hordes could pillage and plunder as
they returned to their homes. The appeals went unanswered as nationalist politicians heralded the
approach of the Habsburg collapse. Various national soldiers began to return home, while during the
following two days portions of several front line divisions mutinied or refused to obey orders.
President Wilson Changes Position
Then, on 21 October, President Wilson announced that he had altered his earlier 8 January stance
because of events that had transpired since then. He recognized Czechoslovakia as a belligerent
nation and its National Council as its formal government. He also demanded justice for the South
Slav nationalist aspirations. The Wilson note removed any questions about his stance. Germany
must be made incapable of renewing hostilities, and he would only negotiate with a representative
government. On that same day, twenty-one of the fifty-seven Habsburg infantry divisions on the
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Italian front refused to obey orders, spurring the collapse of the Habsburg Army. On the home front,
new demonstrations erupted in Prague and Kraków, while the revolutionary Hungarian Parliament,
led by Count Mihaly Karolyi (1875-1955), recalled all Honvéd regiments from the various fronts in
reaction to the negative Balkan military situation.[19]
By 23 October, the peace offering and changes in the German government had greatly affected
public opinion and further radicalized the masses. The increasing chaos, combined with Allied
demands for total capitulation and the floundering attempts to force Emperor Wilhelm to abdicate in
favor of his grandson, severely undermined Max von Baden’s political position.
The Collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Army
The collapse of the Habsburg Army accelerated on 22 October as multiple regiments began to
mutiny, demonstrations erupted in Prague and Kraków, and a National Commission of Polish
representatives convened in Kraków. On 23 October, President Wilson’s third note to Germany
made it abundantly clear that the U.S. would not negotiate with the monarchial German government,
only with representatives of the people. Meanwhile, as increasingly negative news arrived from the
Balkan front Habsburg Emperor Charles traveled to Hungary to be crowned King of Hungary. During
this period, attempts to isolate front line soldiers from the turmoil in the interior failed.
The long anticipated and dreaded turmoil had already erupted in the Budapest Parliament, the heart
of the Magyar revolution. Violent action forced the Parliament to be suspended. The turmoil forced
Prime Minister Alexander Wekerle (1848-1921) to resign. On 23 October, Hungarian political leaders
in the new revolutionary government ordered its troops to be immediately redeployed home to
protect the homeland from the anticipated invasion from the Serbian front and possibly the Romanian
front.
On that same day, a provisional government proclaimed an independent Czech-Slovak state in
Paris, while a newly created Polish state came into existence. Croatia, Slovenia, and Dalmatia
rapidly seceded from the Empire. Meanwhile, the Habsburg home front also collapsed. Its army’s
final mountain battle would soon commence on the Italian Front. General Arz informed German High
Command that his forces could only continue to fight until the end of that year.
The domestic crisis also intensified in the Austro-Hungarian and German homelands. Habsburg
Supreme Command continued to fear the outbreak of anarchy when troops returned home.
Meanwhile, the government became paralyzed as anti-dynastic agitation increased everywhere. The
Croats rebelled in Fiume, while Croats, Bosnians, Czechs, Magyars, and Romanians deserted their
posts in Venetia. The Habsburg Army entered a state of open revolt and informal dissolution.[20] As
the Dual Monarchy fragmented, German politicians of all parties in the provisional Austrian National
Assembly proclaimed a new Austrian state to embrace the German-speaking areas of the former
Empire, including the predominately German-speaking districts of Bohemia. The provisional
assembly managed public affairs until a constitution for the truncated Austria was drafted. Emperor
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Charles’ last government was formed under the college professor Heinrich Lammasch (1853-1920).
In a note dispatched to President Wilson, Lammasch agreed to the president’s concept of the right of
nationalities to develop their own future within the Dual Monarchy, particularly the Czechs and South
Slavs.[21]
The effect of propaganda on Habsburg troops accelerated the spread of the rebellion as soldiers of
all nationalities developed the overwhelming desire to return home. Emperor Charles agreed that
Hungarian soldiers could return to defend their homeland from invasion. The decision enflamed
Czech-Slovak and South Slav opposition to the Dual Monarchy, a key factor that, along with general
war-weariness and the increasingly unstable situation on the home fronts, led to the dissolution of the
army. Escalating economic and political unrest at home also had a devastating effect on the army.
Some front line Hungarian units rebelled and started home.
By 23 October, all Habsburg Supreme Command attempts to isolate news of the increasing number
of disturbances in the hinterlands from front line combatants had collapsed. South Slav and
Hungarian troops began to refuse to continue fighting as serious rebellions, desertion, and mutiny
occurred.[22]
Final Italian Offensive
The Italians finally launched their long anticipated offensive against the beleaguered Habsburg Army
on 24 October.[23] Although the operation caught the Habsburg Supreme Command by surprise, the
defending troops fought fiercely, driven by the instinct to survive. Losses for both sides proved
significant, while the Hungarian government repeated the demand that their soldiers return to protect
their homeland. Habsburg troops could not halt the Italian attacks with such high casualty rates and
intensifying disturbances in the ranks.
At this point, the army had become catastrophically low on all supplies of food, ammunition, and
troops, who were by now completely demoralized. Equipment, particularly artillery pieces, continued
to fail at an alarming rate. Troop morale also collapsed and the troops became unreliable in battle.
Reserve units refused to advance to the front, while more and more unit formations mutinied.
General Arz revealed to the German High Command that half of his soldiers had revolted. Troops of
every nationality increasingly abandoned their front line positions. Discipline also collapsed in the rear
echelons, where newspaper articles from the home front negatively affected the troops. By 25
October, in an effort to protect the army from total collapse, Habsburg Supreme Command
demanded an immediate ceasefire (Waffenstillstand) as serious battle continued. Severe losses
continued to reduce troop numbers as soldiers slowly surrendered territory.[24] Ammunition supplies
had also dwindled to one-day’s worth as mutinies spread.
The major blow from the Italian military did not occur until 26 October. Habsburg reserve formations
and reinforcement troops refused orders to advance to the front lines to prevent a major battlefield
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defeat. To add to the disastrous situation, many Habsburg front-line artillery pieces had become
unserviceable, while other batteries lacked horses to transport them.
The Italians increased pressure on their opponent’s collapsing fronts. Habsburg March formations
(replacement troops) often proved unreliable and undisciplined. The military situation had deteriorated
so badly that a Habsburg Supreme Command delegation traveled to the front lines to attempt to
persuade the troops to defend their positions until an armistice could be concluded. En masse
mutinies and desertions became the order of the day. Continued artillery fire camouflaged the fact
that portions of the Habsburg front had disintegrated. Thus, the Italian High Command did not realize
the accelerating chaos occurring behind Habsburg lines.
During the early morning hours of 27 October, several Italian Army units crossed the Piave River.
No Habsburg counterattacks or serious resistance could be achieved because so many troops
refused to fight. Many soldiers also deserted their units. On 26-27 October, at least thirteen
Habsburg divisions were in dissolution. Most Hungarian troops refused to obey orders.[25] By 28
October, troops of all nationalities were marching homeward. The Habsburg military situation
continued to deteriorate rapidly into hopelessness. Multiple divisions refused to defend their front
lines and instead marched to rear echelon areas, which only accelerated the army’s disintegration.
Question of an Armistice
Insubordination in training camps had been a problem since the early weeks of October, when many
recruits had refused to join their regiments at the front lines. Mutinies coincided with disturbances
and demonstrations at various areas of the front to further cripple Habsburg military efforts.
Meanwhile, many divisions simply refused to fight. Troops deserted their trench positions, some
attempting to march home. March formations continued to disobey orders to proceed to the front,
and almost all remaining Hungarian troops demanded that they be allowed to return to their homeland
because of the increasingly dangerous military situation on the Balkan front. Habsburg officers
became powerless to command their troops. In the meantime, the Habsburg Supreme Command
vehemently insisted that an armistice be concluded as rapidly as possible before “anarchy and
Bolshevism” could poison both the army and the home front, particularly in the German areas of the
Dual Monarchy.
The Habsburg Army’s ultimate fate was determined on 28 October as the Dual Monarchy received a
final shattering blow when the government acknowledged the Czechs’ and South Slavs’
independence. The decision did not put an end to the fighting and did little to alleviate the pressure on
the faltering Habsburg Army.
The troop rebellions following on the heels of President Wilson’s third note on 28 October finally
caused the German politicians to react. At the same time, General Arz telegraphed General
Hindenburg demanding an immediate armistice regardless of the present German position.
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The commander of the Isonzo front reported that organized resistance on his front was no longer
possible. Thus, several attempts followed to secure a cease-fire that would preclude the total
collapse of the front as mutiny spread to all units. Several more divisions refused to fight and reserve
units refused to march to the front. Insubordinate soldiers even began to plunder supply depots, a
further indication of the seriousness of the situation.[26]
Meanwhile, a planned 28 October Habsburg counterattack had to be scrubbed because three
infantry divisions in the assault force had mutinied. Some units had reached the verge of dissolution;
none existed to fill the accelerating number of gaps in the front lines. All communication between the
various units had vanished. Emperor Charles and General Arz sought an immediate end to hostilities
and “the completely useless bloodletting on the front.” Both were willing to accept any armistice
terms as long as the honor of the Habsburg Army remained intact.[27]
The Habsburg Supreme Command continued to attempt to prevent the disintegration of the army.
The fear of anarchy increased demands for an armistice. Haunted by the fear of a Bolshevik
upheaval in the ranks, General Arz authorized direct consultations with the Italians for an immediate
armistice. The inevitable Habsburg general retreat commenced on 29 October.
General Svetozar Boroević von Bojna (1856-1920) sought to prevent anarchy in the ranks as he
ordered a retreat to the front lines the Habsburg Army had occupied before the 1917 Caporetto
campaign. Meanwhile, General Arz informed General Hindenburg that the Habsburg Monarchy must
demand an immediate armistice. General Arz ordered present front line positions be maintained as
long as possible in order to prevent the destruction of the army until an armistice could be concluded.
The fate of the Habsburg Army had been sealed.
Habsburg Army commanders insisted that unless an armistice was signed immediately, the
situation would become catastrophic. Officers attempted to maintain control of their few remaining
obedient troops, but had to halt all combat operations and attempt to neutralize the influence of
rebellious soldiers. The troops, nevertheless, continued the general retreat as the army disintegrated.
A definitive front line no longer existed as unit entities turned into masses of soldiers often retreating.
German military leadership was seriously concerned that the Entente would send troops through the
Tyrol to invade Bavaria.
Revolt of the Nationalities
Nationalist movements increasingly undermined the Habsburg war effort. On 31 October, politicians
in Prague proclaimed a Czech state joined by Slovakia.[28] Galician leaders announced that they
would join a new Polish state. After the Czechoslovakian political revolution, Habsburg military
garrisons had to be withdrawn from Czechoslovak territory. In Agram military authorities transferred
their command to the South Slav National Council. People in Croatia demanded their independence
from Hungary as street demonstrations erupted. The Slovak National Party and Slovenes sought a
timely break from Hungary, but the Slovak National Council meeting on 30 October favored
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unification with the Czechs. Returning Czech soldiers were greeted as heroes at home.
The alliance with Germany proved fatal to Vienna. Because of the earlier Sixtus Affair, at the Spa
meeting in May the Entente powers regarded the Dual Monarchy as an appendage of Germany.[29]
The floodgates opened as the Western powers sought to break up the tottering Habsburg kingdoms.
Although Germany was spared the turmoil of nationalist revolutions, it suffered from the same warweariness and domestic political unrest. More and more troops refused to obey orders even before a
deadly wave of the Spanish flu struck one of every six men in late October. The High Seas Fleet
mutinied on 29 October after receiving orders to launch a suicide mission to attack the British Grand
Fleet. Sailors demonstrated for peace and called for an end to the war, even going so far as to create
counsels on the Bolshevik model to facilitate further political revolution. The movement spread
throughout German seaports as sailors and workers seized entire ships. Their actions received
support from the growing anti-war fever, which had become more pronounced after news from the
Bulgarian-Turkish fronts reached the homeland.[30] Hoping to hasten the armistice negotiations and
avoid a major revolution, German leaders sought to placate President Wilson by making the new
chancellor responsible to the Reichstag.
Meanwhile, pandemonium continued in the Dual Monarchy. On 30 October, the Provisional
Assembly in Vienna accepted a temporary constitution that formed German Austria into a part of the
German Republic. German regions in Bohemia, Moravia, and Silesia also declared the creation of an
independent Austrian state. It now became a question of destroying the Habsburg Empire in as
orderly a fashion as possible and transfering authority to the heirs of the Habsburg Dual Monarchy.
As the Habsburg Supreme Command lost control of troops in the Hinterland, it continued to fear
anarchy in the ranks.
Chaos continued in the Empire as German-speaking sectors of Austria and Bohemia declared their
independence and a republican form of government.[31] Meanwhile, combat troops continued to
desert and mutiny in the Hinterland. Austria-Hungary ceased to exist as new independent states
replaced it. In Hungary demonstrations erupted and a group of soldiers murdered István Tisza at his
home.[32] The Hungarian revolutionary Karolyi declared that Emperor Charles should abdicate and
announced the formation of a Hungarian Republic, abrogating the 1867 Compromise between
Austria and Hungary.
Collapse on the Italian Front
Even as the Empire was collapsing and dissolving, the armies still firmly controlled their section of
the Italian front. However, soldiers ignored their officers and animals were set free. Two forms of
contagious infections spread within the Habsburg forces. Influenza decimated ranks of garrison
troops guarding various roads, further diminishing the troops’ willingness to fight. Habsburg
commanders thought it better to surrender as soon as possible rather than witness the chaos that
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would occur if hundreds of thousands of armed undisciplined troops arrived back home. Even
German Austrian soldiers took part in the spreading revolts.
The pacifist Hungarian War Minister, Béla Linder (1876-1962), ordered his Hungarian soldiers to put
down their arms and demanded that all Hungarian soldiers deployed in Ukraine be sent back home
without weapons or military materials.[33] Troops would join units according to the new nation they
represented. The soldiers, anxious to get home, clogged the roads to proceed to the nearest railroad
station where the lack of coal for the locomotives made it difficult to get a ride. The lack of coal
resulted from the fact that miners did not have sufficient food to continue their heavy labor. Farmers
did not provide food because many former farm workers now served in the armed forces. Neither
the home nor battlefronts were receiving regular food shipments, which further impeded all types of
activities. Meanwhile, Czechoslovakians and Yugoslavs forbade the movement of troop convoys,
resulting in a true paralysis throughout the old Empire as millions of soldiers attempted to reach
home. Many troops refused to obey orders and officers were rebuffed. Rearguard troops were
preceded by undisciplined armed troops who ransacked buildings looking for food and valuables.[34]
Disorder also reigned in the Habsburg Supreme Command headquarters. Telephone switchboards
were vandalized and abandoned, cars were stolen, and many officers deserted and headed home.
The End of Germany and the Dual Monarchy
By 31 October the Dual Monarchy had all but ceased to function, with several independent states
replacing it. By November, almost all Hungarian troops had disappeared from the frontlines.
Meanwhile, soldiers rushing home presented a threat to Austria and Hungary, as well as to the
successor states, because of the anarchy and revolutionary ideas that they could spread to the
hinterland. Yet during the last days of the war, some Austrian-German, Hungarian, Czech, Slovene,
and Croat soldiers fought to the bitter end and died on the battlefield side by side, even though the
Austro-Hungarian Army no longer existed. The army’s armistice commission finally crossed the
Italian front lines on 31 October to conduct negotiations. The Habsburg Commission then learned
that the Italian negotiating team would not arrive until the next day, continuing the obvious Italian
delaying tactics. The Habsburg delegation arrived in Italian headquarters at the Villa Giusti to await
armistice terms, which in reality, amounted to a total capitulation.[35]
The Italians accepted a cease-fire for 3 November, but then attacked Habsburg troops the next day,
gaining the reputed great victory of Vittorio Veneto. The German armistice delegation had seventytwo hours to sign the surrender documents on the Western Front. Emperor Wilhelm fled the country
on 10 November, and the armistice finally took effect on 11 November at 11:00 a.m. Attention
focused on the peace treaty negotiations. While the Austro-Hungarian Army suffered an inglorious
death, German troops marched home to open arms after the 11 November termination of the war.
Attention now focused on the Versailles peace settlement and its effects.
On 7 November, Max von Baden described the critical situation in Germany while Emperor Wilhelm
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travelled to Army Headquarters at Spa. Pressure had been mounting for Wilhelm to abdicate, but he
suggested that he lead the army to bring peace to the homeland. Senior army commanders quickly
vetoed the idea. On the same day, a revolution in Bavaria overthrew the Wittelsbach dynasty and the
king fled. Two days later, revolutionary activities expanded in Berlin, particularly encouraged by Karl
Liebknecht (1871-1919), a leader of the Spartacist League, the far left-wing of the Socialist Party.
Crime escalated, with murder and soldier desertion becoming regular occurrences. Workers had
improved their lot, but the middle class had lost their savings.
On 9 November, Prince Max (who held office from 4 October to 13 November) declared Emperor
Wilhelm’s abdication, because he feared that a continued impasse on the subject would assist the
left-wing revolutionary parties and factions, particularly the Spartacists. Wilhelm fled to Holland the
next day. Max then retired in favor of Friedrich Ebert (1871-1925), the leader of the majority
Socialists. On November 10, the just-elected president contacted the new Germany army
commander, Wilhelm Gröner (1867-1939), to secure the military’s support against the Spartacists.
With the military supporting him, Ebert then focused on procuring peace and establishing internal
order to ensure Germany’s survival. On November 9, the Socialist Philip Scheidemann (1865-1939)
appeared on the balcony of the Reichstag and, without any authority, proclaimed a German Republic
to prevent the repetition of Red October as had occurred in Petrograd in 1917. Like Max and Ebert,
he feared a Spartacist-led communist attempt to seize power. Karl Liebknecht led such an uprising,
but failed to provide adequate leadership for it to succeed. He and his fellow conspirators, including
Rosa Luxemburg (1871-1919), were murdered.[36]
The elections of 19 January 1919 resulted in the Social Democratic Party emerging as the largest
party in the Reichstag. They and the Catholic Center Party combined to form a parliamentary and
republican majority. After suffering through the revolutionary events between November 1918 and
January 1919 – precipitated by battlefield defeat and the replacement of the Hohenzollern Emperor
and imperial government – Germany finally seemed to be on a path to social and political stability.
There would be no purges of civil servants, members of the diplomatic corps, the judiciary, or
military officers.
Conclusion
The events of October 1918 brought a rapid end to Austria-Hungary and Germany’s World War
destiny. Four bloody years of conflict, increasing starvation conditions affected by the Entente
blockade, and escalating strike activity combined to create the conditions for revolution. The failure of
the German spring offensives of 1918 and the collapse of the Habsburg Army following the
catastrophic June Battle of the Piave ended any hope for a military victory for the Central Powers.
One must also consider how the appeals by the two main Central Power countries for an armistice
affected the post-war order, leading to the enormous influence of President Wilson’s Fourteen Points.
The Austro-Hungarian monarchy and its various national sections could not survive the Fourteen
Points and the policies, or lack thereof, of Emperor Charles. His ill-advised “Manifesto” is an
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excellent example of how the emperor’s decisions could have disastrous consequences for his
country.
For Germany, the U.S. president emphasized that he would not negotiate for an armistice with
Emperor Wilhelm. This not only resulted in the collapse of the Hohenzollern dynasty, but also in the
birth of a constitutional republic in Germany. The fateful Versailles Treaty negotiations resulted in the
May 1919 draconian settlement after the German delegates took their railroad journey to see the
documents for the first time.
Graydon A. Tunstall, University of South Florida
Section Editors: Michael Neiberg; Sophie De Schaepdrijver
Notes
1. ↑ Herwig, Holger H.: The First World War. Germany and Austria-Hungary 1914-1918, New
York 1997, p. 362; Rauchensteiner, Manfried: Der Erste Weltkrieg und das Ende der
Habsburger-Monarchie 1914-1918, Vienna 2013. Both sources are excellent for basic October
1918 information.
2. ↑ Herwig, The First World War 1997, pp. 359, 370, 425.
3. ↑ The Hindenburg Line was the major defensive position assumed before the major 1917
French Nivelle Offensive.
4. ↑ Food ration per individual had fallen to 60 percent of the amount deemed necessary for even
light work. The German strike movement during 1915 had numbered about 137, but grew to
560 by 1917.
5. ↑ The "myth" commenced after the great German defensive victory at Tannenberg in 1914,
while on the Austro-Hungarian front the Habsburg armies suffered major defeats at the two
battles of Lemberg.
6. ↑ Herwig, The First World War 1997, pp. 260-266.
7. ↑ Ibid, p. 426.
8. ↑ Von Glais-Horstenau, Edmund: The Collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, New York
1930; Herwig, The First World War 1997, pp. 368, 370, 373; Rauchensteiner, Der Erste
Weltkrieg 2013, p. 995ff.
9. ↑ Herwig, The First World War 1997, pp. 365, 434; Rauchensteiner, Der Erste Weltkrieg 2013;
Von Glais-Horstenau, The Collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire 1930, p. 235.
10. ↑ Von Glais-Horstenau / Kiszling, Rudolf (eds.): Österreich Ungarns Letzter Krieg 1914-1918
(ÖULK), Bundesministerium für Landesverteidigung, 7 vols. VII, Vienna, p. 573.
11. ↑ Herwig, The First World War 1997, p. 358; ÖULK and varia.
12. ↑ Kerchnawe, Hugo: Der Zusammenbruch der österreichische-ungarische Wehrmacht im
Herbst 1918, Munich 1921, p. 15.
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13. ↑ For a very readable account of events, see: May, Arthur: The Passing of the Hapsburg
Monarchy 1914-1918, 2 vols., Philadelphia 1966.
14. ↑ ÖULK, VII, p. 579; varia.
15. ↑ Herwig, The First World War 1997, pp. 373-387, 444.
16. ↑ Honvéd was the designation for Hungarian troop units and soldiers.
17. ↑ Rauchensteiner, Der Erste Weltkrieg 2013, varia.
18. ↑ Von Glais-Horstenau, The Collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, p. 240.
19. ↑ Herwig, The First World War 1997, p. 436; varia.
20. ↑ Herwig, The First World War 1997, pp. 436-437.
21. ↑ Von Glais-Horstenau, The Collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire 1930, pp. 228, 231-232;
Rauchensteiner, Der Erste Weltkrieg 2013, p. 1041ff.
22. ↑ ÖULK, VII, p. 591, varia.
23. ↑ See: Kerchnawe, Der Zusammenbruch 1921, for details on military operations and
nationality issues throughout October and November 1918.
24. ↑ ÖULK, VII, p. 600, varia.
25. ↑ Rauchensteiner, Der Erste Weltkrieg 2013, p. 1042.
26. ↑ Rauchensteiner, Der Erste Weltkrieg 2013, p. 1042; See: Kerchanawe, Der
Zusammenbruch 1921; Von Glais-Horstenau, The Collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire
1930, for detailed descriptions of troop activities.
27. ↑ Ibid; Rauchensteiner, Der Erste Weltkrieg 2013, p. 1043.
28. ↑ See: Plaschka, Richard / Mack, Karlheinz (eds.): Die Auflösung des Habsburgerreiches.
Zusammenbruch und Neuorientierung im Donauraum, 1918, Vienna 1974.
29. ↑ The Sixtus Affair entailed Habsburg Emperor Charles sending a letter to his relative Sixtus,
Prince of Bourbon-Parma (1886-1934) seeking peace terms, which caused outrage among the
German General Staff.
30. ↑ Herwig, The First World War 1997, p. 421; Rauchensteiner, Der Erste Weltkrieg 2013, p.
1042; see also: von Glais-Horstenau, The Collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire 1930.
31. ↑ Rauchensteiner, Der Erste Weltkrieg 2013, p. 1045.
32. ↑ Herwig, The First World War 1997, p. 437.
33. ↑ Rauchensteiner, Der Erste Weltkrieg 2013, p. 1046.
34. ↑ Herwig, The First World War 1997, p. 438.
35. ↑ For the negotiations, see: Herwig, The First World War 1997, pp. 437-438; Rauchensteiner,
Der Erste Weltkrieg 2013, pp. 1043-1047.
36. ↑ Herwig, The First World War 1997, p. 446.
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Cornwall, Mark: The Last years of Austria-Hungary. Essays in political and military
history, 1908-1918, Exeter 1990: University of Exeter Press.
Galántai, József: Hungary in the First World War, Budapest 1989: Akadémiai Kiadó.
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Glaise von Horstenau, Edmund: Die Katastrophe. Die Zertrümmerung ÖsterreichUngarns und das Werden der Nachfolgestaaten, Zurich 1929: Amalthea-Verlag.
Glaise von Horstenau, Edmund: The collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, London;
Toronto; New York 1930: J. M. Dent; E. P. Dutton.
Jászi, Oszkár: The dissolution of the Habsburg Monarchy, Chicago 1961: University of
Chicago Press.
Kerchnawe, Hugo: Der Zusammenbruch der Österreichisch-Ungarischen Wehrmacht
im Herbst 1918, Munich 1921: J. F. Lehmanns Verlag.
Landwehr-Pragenau, Ottokar: Hunger. Die Erschöpfungsjahre der Mittelmächte
1917/1918, Zurich 1931: Amalthea.
May, Arthur James: The passing of the Hapsburg Monarchy, 1914-1918, Philadelphia
1966: University of Pennsylvania Press.
Plaschka, Richard Georg: Avantgarde des Widerstands. Modellfälle militärischer
Auflehnung im 19. und 20. Jahrhundert, Vienna 2000: Böhlau.
Plaschka, Richard Georg: Cattaro-Prague. Revolte und Revolution. Kriegsmarine und
Heer Österreich-Ungarns im Feuer der Aufstandsbewegung vom 1. Februar und 28.
Oktober 1918, Graz 1963: H. Böhlaus Nachf..
Plaschka, Richard Georg / Haselsteiner, Horst / Suppan, Arnold: Innere Front.
Militärassistenz, Widerstand und Umsturz in der Donaumonarchie 1918, volume 1-2,
Vienna 1974: Verlag für Geschichte und Politik.
Plaschka, Richard Georg / Mack, Karlheinz (eds.): Die Auflösung des Habsburgerreiches.
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Citation
Tunstall, Graydon A.: The Military Collapse of the Central Powers , in: 1914-1918-online. International
Encyclopedia of the First World War, ed. by Ute Daniel, Peter Gatrell, Oliver Janz, Heather Jones,
Jennifer Keene, Alan Kramer, and Bill Nasson, issued by Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin 2015-04-30.
DOI: 10.15463/ie1418.10633.
License
This text is licensed under: CC by-NC-ND 3.0 Germany - Attribution, Non-commercial, No
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